Schistosoma mansoni

About Schistosoma mansoni

The trematode Schistosoma mansoni is one of the three major infectious agents responsible for the chronic debilitating disease schistosomiasis found throughout Africa and South America. The intermediate host for the parasite is a freshwater snail from the genus Biomphlaria, and the definitive host is a human. Schistosomiasis is widely considered to be second only to malaria as a global health problem and an incalculable drain on the economic development of endemic countries.

Genome Assembly & Annotation

Assembly

The S. mansoni reference genome was sequenced by a consortium led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, as described by Berriman et al (2009). The assembly version represented here is the v5.0 freeze from GeneDB (December 2013), published in Protasio et al 2012 and which corresponds with INSDC assembly ASM23792v2.

Annotation

The gene predictions were intially made by a consortium led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, as described by Berriman et al (2009). The gene models have since been iteratively improved, and the version represented here is the v5.0 freeze from GeneDB (December 2013) and described in Protasio et al 2012.